from Sunday by Lisa Marshall
xtending our individual spiritual practice into everyday activi- ties may present a challenge, especially during the hectic holiday season. So authors Barbara Brown Taylor and J. Pittman McGehee have uncovered additional ways that some people are tapping into their defi ni- tions of a Higher Power.
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The Practice of Paying Attention Spend 20 minutes observing a patch of Earth outdoors. Observe what lives there. Think of how it came to be and what it takes for it to survive.
The Practice of Encountering Others Start a conversation with the cashier at the grocery store. Exchange eye contact and a smile with someone on the subway. Offer help to a mother with a crying child at the airport. Says Taylor: “The hardest spiritual
work in the world is to love the neigh- bor as the self—to encounter them not as someone you can use, change, fi x, help or save, but as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself if you will allow it… to enter- tain the possibility that this is one of the faces of God.”
The Practice of Living with Purpose Show your gratitude for being alive through contributing to some com- mon good, whether it is via a voca- tion you love or volunteer work. “Give your stuff away. Share your food. Pray for those who are out to get you. Be the fi rst to say, ‘I’m sorry,’” counsels Taylor.
The Practice of Saying No Say no for one whole day: to more work, to shopping, to the Internet. Use the time you gain to pay atten- tion. “If you slow down for just one day, alarming things can happen,” observes Taylor.
The Practice of Doing Without Go without power for a day. Light candles. Dry laundry on a clothes- line. Sleep by the fi re. Feel your heart swell with gratitude when the sun comes up.
The Practice of Creativity Create something. Paint, write, cook, dance or plant a garden. “Find the creativity, and you will fi nd yourself experiencing the mystical presence of the transcendent, in the most simple and available way,” says McGehee.
The Practice of Dreaming Write down dreams and pay attention to recurring symbols. Honor them as a divine opportunity.
Seven Ways
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